Hope for New York

On June 10, nearly 150 volunteers and affiliate staff attended HFNY's inaugural Awesome Volunteer Awards (AVA) Ceremony at The Father's Heart Ministries. The evening began with refreshments and a slide show featuring photos of volunteers in action and quotes on their service. During dinner, affiliate staff enjoyed a meal with their valuable volunteers. 

After being thanked and encouraged by Dustee Hullinger of Gifted Hands and Ron and Anna Mandile from Living Waters Fellowship, the nominees were presented with their golden awards. Each award was specific to the type of service the volunteers provide; a golden ladle for the food service volunteers, a golden chalkboard for those who serve with ESL, golden hammers for renovation and even little golden shoes for the Spring Benefit Committee who chose the theme "Walk with Mercy" for this year's benefit. Following the awards were servings of ice cream from The Father's Heart's very own Alphabet Scoop, a homemade ice cream store that trains and employs youth in the community.

The evening closed with many wonderful thanks and comments from the volunteers and affiliates, but our biggest hope for the evening was that our volunteers would know how awesome we really think they are.